


Dragon Healer

by starsinger



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Gen, No AIVAS/Post Lessa/F'lar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-31
Packaged: 2017-12-30 21:56:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsinger/pseuds/starsinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is no tradition in the Pern books of a Healer tradition for Dragons as there are for Humans, except when Moreta mentioned where she learned her own techniques. In the Falling Waters RPG my character was one of two apprentices in that Weyr. I'm not going to immediately point out which one is the character, let's see if you can pick them out. No, don't own them, McCaffrey family does. Sorry, Dragon Apprentice was the sequel to this fic, I got confused. Vacation, go figure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragon Healer

The humming alerted Daris to the imminent hatching. She smiled as she jumped. She barely heard the Weyrleader, and her weyrmate, J'nat, tell her, "It's not even Stirath's clutch." The statement ended with a chuckle. She didn't care, she loved a hatching.

Daris ran into Tyga and her mate, B'reez. She grinned at the weyrwoman whose queen had clutched the eggs as they hurried toward the Hatching Grounds. Guests filed onto the Grounds as Weyrfolk followed them, or went on their own errands of their own. Falling Waters Weyr had only two Queens, and the presence of a queen egg on the hatching grounds meant that the female candidates had more than greens, or the occasional stray blue to impress.

Daris frowned as she watched J'lart and Segurd usher the dragon and human healer apprentices onto the grounds. Daris frowned, she'd hoped two of them, Jarra and Reis, had agreed to stand for the queen egg. Jarra, in particular, had been obstinate on the issue. She flatly refused, saying her blue flit, Klumsy, was more than enough. For some reason, Reis couldn't stop laughing every time somebody suggested she stand on the grounds. Klumsy sat on a ledge near her own queen as the Dragon's welcoming hum filled the hatching grounds.

Tyga joined her queen behind the queen egg. Massith's eyes whirled with excitement and anticipation. The egg in front of her twitched occasionally. The queen appeared to be making up her royal mind on whether or not to emerge. It was as if the queen's battle of one turn ago made her reluctant to join the Weyr. Daris closed her eyes, not wanting to remember leaving on Stirath when Cleoth turned bright gold, only to return to find Cleoth dead, Ardith severely, and mortally injured. Massith had been just young enough not to have been affected by the emotions of the queen's flight.

Finally, Daris watched as the young blue rider, M'sith, whose arrival at Falling Waters Hold had heralded one of the healer apprentice's arrival at the Weyr. She looked down at the embroidery on the gown she wore. Jarra had a fine hand indeed.

One of the larger eggs in front started to rock in earnest. The guests hurried to their places in the tiers as the Candidates hurried into their places. The girls stood in the general area of the queen egg so she could find her rider quickly, but not have the other colors have to climb up onto the rise to make their choice known. Daris heard Tyga sigh as the first egg finally split open and a bronze head pushed its way through and made a bee-line for a small boy at the back of the first group. It was a good sign that the hatchling knew who he wanted and that it was a bronze.

As if it was a signal, the rest of clutch began to break their shells and stagger out onto the sands. Three of the six girls were selected by greens fairly quickly before the queen broke her shell. This apparently made the little gold anxious as the egg started to rock back and forth quickly before splitting down the middle, another good sign. She stepped forward, looking around, queen of all she surveyed. Then she turned her attention to those who stood awaiting her judgment. She stepped out and proceeded to scrutinize the girl's nearest her, and then moved on. She made the spectators a little anxious as she appeared to look closely at some of the boys as well.

The creeling of a little green attracted her attention as the dainty creature made a dash for where the healer's sat in the spectator stands. To everyone's astonishment, the little queen soon followed…


	2. Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so we go to the past. We meet who our main character is. We find out what the heck is happening. This takes place after the time of F'lar and Lessa. Aivas was never found. No, still don't own them.

By the beginning of the second pass after man returned to the southern continent Holds and Weyrs prospered. Falling Waters Hold and Weyr were located near a river system fed by a waterfall. The Weyr had two more major holds, Robinton and Lessa Holds nearby. Against the waterfall, a large golden dragon soared. Both Daris and her young queen, Stirath, reveled in the freedom of the early morning air. She looked down at the nearby Falling Waters Hold and saw small figures emerging to check on the nearby beastholds. She laughed, everyone looked small from this height.

 _Duck!_ Stirath projected to her rider as something large plummeted past them so close that Daris felt the wind as the blue object headed for the ground.

 _Stirath, inform J'lart and Segurd that we have wounded by the falls!_ Daris shook her head, this was one of the rare days where no Thread was due anywhere on Pern. She directed Stirath to the ground as more figures poured from the Hold. Daris landed as more dragons popped out of _between_. She slid off her Queen's back and hit the ground running. The blue's shoulder had taken a hard hit on the shoulder and down the wing. It was serious, only three turn's before, J'lart's Nolth had taken a similar hit and was unable to fly for longer than short distances.

"Does anyone have numbweed?" J'lart shouted. His welcome presence helped calm everyone as the blue's writhing subsided. Stirath steadied him as J'lart ran his eyes over the threadscore. Segurd all ready had the rider off his back and the steady murmuring of the healers provided a steady rhythm to everything that happened. A small girl ran out struggling with two buckets. Three more youngsters followed her. J'lart smiled at her, "What's your name?"

"Jarra," the girl replied. Her long, curly, red hair fell around her face. Soon, the two had the dragon's injuries slathered with numbweed. Soon, two more Queen's arrived with a sling between them, ready to transport the dragon to the Weyr. They both listened as Segurd instructed the riders taking the blue's rider to the Weyr to fly straight back.

Daris approached J'lart as one of the brown search dragons started poking his head toward the girl at J'lart's side. A small blue firelizard hovered around her confirming her thoughts on the girl. "How old are you, Jarra?" J'lart asked.

"I've twelve turns, sir," came the confident reply.

"A little young for an apprentice, but would you like to come and be a dragon healer?" J'lart asked. Daris recognized the gleam in his eye. They watched the youngster fly back to the hold shouting for her mother at the top of her lungs. The proceeded to watch her make a sharp left turn and tear out for the weaver hall nearby. "This blue is very small for one of ours," J'lart murmured to Daris. "He's smaller than any of our greens."

Daris nodded in agreement as the Senior Weyrwoman, Alla, gold Cheorth's rider, approached them. "I've talked to the other Weyr's, no blues are missing and no Threadfall has been reported or is due today." Alla cocked her head at her most junior weyrwoman, "What do you think, Daris?"

"Timing it?" Daris asked.

Segurd joined the conversation, "That would explain the rider's incoherence. They say Lessa was delirious after her trip of four hundred turns, but how long ago did he come from if his blue is that small?"

They watched as Jarra and her mother emerged from the weaver building and the girl pelted for the Hold. Her mother approached Daris and J'lart and smiled, "Is this Search, or just apprentice seeking, Master J'lart?"

Daris and J'lart looked at each other, "A little of both, Joreen. I take it she's accepted?"

An indulgent smile crossed Joreen's face, "Oh, yes, she would've taken to weaving well, and wouldn't have minded it, but like so many youngsters, she's always dreamed of dragons." On a whim, Daris sent Jarra up Starith's long leg as soon as she showed up with her small bag of belongings. Jarra's arrival at the Weyr would be welcome, as J'lart had just lost his last apprentice to another Weyr after he had walked the tables. Daris started her own climb back onto Stirath's back, wondering about the mystery of the little blues arrival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm admitting this now, I'm terrible at making up names. Input on that and other things regarding this story would be welcome!


	3. A Brown Dragon Named Nolth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, still don't own Pern. Again, I reiterate that I am terrible at making up names. Any suggestions are welcome!

The tiny green dragonet lay against Nolth's paw. Her piteous cries tore at Myka's heart as the big brown gently picked up the wing whose mainsail bone had broken when the infant had fallen wrong. S'terin hovered nearby watching as Kadith pressed her muzzle against one of Nolth's talons. Myka slathered the wing with numbweed which reduced Kadith's cries to whimpers.

_Cheoth and Ardith are on their way in with the injured blue_ , Nolth's voice intruded into her mind. Myka glanced up at the brown, the long scar on the right wing was the only apparent evidence of the terrible encounter with Thread that had grounded the dragon. If you paid attention to other dragons, you also noticed that he was unable to fold his wing completely against his side. Flight denied to him, he devoted himself to helping tend to the injured dragons and riders. He often pulled injured riders from the backs of distraught dragons, helped steady injured dragons while they were being worked on, and assisted in Weyrling training as the newest riders learned about the worst that could happen, accidents notwithstanding. He also talked to whomever he felt he needed to, often startling new apprentices not used to strange voices in their minds.

Myka forced herself to finish splinting and re-slinging her wing before Nolth replaced the drowsy, little green onto her couch in the infirmary. As the two of them walked back to the clearing to wait for the Queens' arrival, Myka noticed the arrival of the junior Weyrwoman, Daris, a small girl with her. They stopped as the red-head climbed down from the gold's back. Nolth and Myka looked at each other, "Apprentice or candidate?" Myka asked.

"Apprentice," the girl replied breathlessly. Olari, the Weyr's Headwoman approached the group. "I'm Jarra, J'lart's new apprentice," she finished.

Myka breathed a sigh of relief, ever since Sari walked the tables, they had no apprentice dragon healer, and Myka was J'lart's only Journeyman. "Hello, Jarra," Myka said, "I'm Myka, J'lart's Journeyman."

_I'm Nolth, J'lart's brown._ The big brown brought his head down to human level. Jarra took a step back at hearing the dragon's voice.

Olari intruded into the conversation, "Why don't I get Jarra settled." The robust Headwoman always got noticed. She stood well over six feet, had long black hair and white skin. Her black eyes pierced through any wrongdoing going on nearby, child or adult. She turned and headed for the caves in the escarpment that formed much of what held the Weyr.

Jarra stumbled after her a blue flit followed her, then proceeded, somehow, to stumble over his feet mid-air. "Klumsy!" Jarra called. Myka had to hide her face against Nolth's shoulder, she laughed so hard.

Soon, two gold dragons lowered a sling to the ground nearby. Nolth approached the sling and unwrapped the figure lying within. Almost professionally, he slid one paw under the damaged wing and body and lifted him up with one paw and spreading the wing with the other. With a startled exclamation, he let the wing down carefully and reached around with the other paw to show a paw facing the wrong way. Myka closed her brown eyes, that would be much harder to heal than the wing. Myka started slathering the paw with numbweed as one of the greens came into help. Tirith was one of Nolth's buddies, and she helped out when needed.

J'lart seemed to appear from nowhere, calling for reeds, cloth, needles, and redwort, "Where's Jarra? Her parents are weavers, let's put that skill to work." Nolth's head turned toward the caves, and soon Jarra ran into view.

"Let me guess, she has two speeds, fast and sleep!" Myka chuckled. She looks up at Nolth, "This is going to hurt, please keep him from hurting me. Nolth nodded as Tirith grasped the blue's paw and with Myka's direction straightened the paw. The only sound that came from the blue were whimpers. She was drenched by the time she and Tirith finished. She turned to J'lart and Jarra, but the young girl's previous training came in handy as her tiny but fast stitches attached the tools at hand to the blue's wing.

J'lart sighed as they finished. "Go get something to eat, Jarra, I'll need you to start your regular duties in the morning. They watched as Tirith and another green got under the blue's wings and Nolth supported the broken leg while they got the blue to the Infirmary.

_My name is Gareth,_ the blue told them. _My riders name is M'sith. Thank you._ Soon, M'sith joined his blue sleeping peacefully where they could be cared for.

**Author's Note:**

> This is obviously not all to this story. Lots of questions that will be answered as the story goes. It will be a flashback which will culminate back in this scene, along with the answer to the questions of whom will impress the queen and green. Please, as this goes along, don't be afraid to tell me if this starts sounding like a Mary Sue. If it does, please give me ideas on how to correct it. This is my first Pern fanfic, so please review, and let me know what you think.


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